Presser foot gauge



1953 M. MURINO 2,647,480

PRESSER FOOT GAUGE Filed May 4, 1950 jay- | l l I I IN V EN TOR. MA TTf [W MZ/f/NO Patented Aug. 4, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE' PRESSER FOOT GAUGE Matthew Murino, New York, N. Y.

Application May 4, 1950, Serial No. 159,895

This invention relates generally to sewing machine attachments and in particular to an improved presser foot having a gauge thereon.

The invention is directed toward the provision of a presser foot, readily attached to a sewing machine and having a gauge thereon which will permit the sewing of exactingly parallel and equally spaced stitch lines. Heretofore the accuracy of presser foot gauges depended upon the ability of the user to align indicia with suitable markers, therefore inaccurate settings often resulted. The diminutive nature of the gauge and indicia thereon in conjunction with inaccessible placement thereof on the machine permitted errors to occur. Thus, the second stitch line would be parallel to the first but the third stitch line would be of different spacin relative to the first and second stitch lines. Moreover, the accuracy of sewin a stitch line parallel to the edge of the material was reduced. In particular, the repeat sewing of a duplicate stitch line a definite distance from the edge of the material was dimcult to accomplish and time consuming, in that the prior gauges were difficult to reset for a given distance and required a trial r and error method to achieve the desired result. Furthermore, the prior method of frictionally locking the gauge in a desired position permitted errors to be introduced.

It is the primary object of the invention to provide a presser foot of improved construction having a gauge thereon which may be simply and. positively set and reset for given distances.

Another object resides in the provision of improved gauge locking means which may be rapidly and readily released or locked.

Other ancillary objects will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in the light of the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevational view of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a second embodiment of the gauge latch.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 4.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the presser foot consists essentially of a supporting member In having means at the upper portion thereof for attaching said member to the conventional spin- Idle ll provided on the sewing machine l2.

Dependant from the member I0 is an offset 1 Claim. (Cl. 112-151) shank 13 to which the foot member I4 is pivotally secured by means of a pin [5. The shank I3 is disposed within a recess l6 formed in the foot I 4 and intermediate the heel of the shank l 3 and the foot I4 is a coil spring which urges the foot [4 counterclockwise about pin l5. A lip 2|, forwardly disposed on the shank I3, abuts against the foot l4 thereby limiting the rotation thereof. However, it may be said that the limited spring urged rotation is sufficient to provide ample contact pressure of the foot H on the material to be stitched.

A bevelled channel 22 is provided in the forwardly extending portion 23 of the foot M, in which a gauge 25 comprising a generally flat plate is arranged for transversely slidable movement. The forward edge 26 of the gauge 25 is analogously bevelled and coacts with the aforementioned channel bevel to effectively cause retention therein. The rearmost edge 21 of the gauge 25 is retained in the channel by means of a forwardly extending plate 28 suitably secured at the bottom of the slotted recess IE of the shank I 3. It will be seen from Fig. 8 that this plate extends forwardly just far enough to overlay a small portion of the edge of rear portion 35 of the gauge. Thus, it is apparent that the gauge 25 is adapted to move laterally in the channel 22.

The gauge 25 has formed therein an elongated aperture 24 through which the sewing machine needle 21 is arranged to pass and through which the progress of the stitching can be observed. Formed in the forwardly extendin portion 23 of the foot I4 is a slot 30 which is provided for the passage of the needle 21 through the portion 23 of the said foot.

To indicate the relative distance between the guide wall 3| of the gauge and the needle, there are provided plural notches 32 in the forward portion 33 of the upper surface of the said gauge. Suitable indicia is provided on the foot to interpret these notches.

A second plurality of notches 34 is provided in the upper surface of the rearmost portion 35 of the gauge and are in alignment with the aforementioned notches 32. Adapted to engage the notches 34, is a latch 36 which is similarly pivotal on the pin I5 and which resides in a slotted recess 31 formed in the foot I 4. Disposed between the rearwardly extending portion 40 of latch 36 and the lower wall of recess 31 is a coil spring 4| which urges the latch clockwise into en- The latch 36 extends sufiiciently above the foot M to permit the manual counterclockwise rotation thereof to remove the latch from engagement with the gauge. When so removed, the gauge is readily slidable in either direction to permit the repositioning of guide wall 3i. Subsequent release of the manual pressure on the latch 36 allows the spring 4| to urge the said latch into engagement with the gauge. The portion of the latch contacting the said gauge is tapered to correspond'to thenotches 34, therefore when engaged, the gauge is effectively locked in the desired position.

A further embodiment is illustrated in Figsl 4 and 5, wherein a spring 35 is employed to. press. the latch 46 into contact with the gauge. One end 4! of the spring 45 is anchoredin a side wall of the recess 3?, the other end 48 thereof con- 1herefore, it is readily apparent that the gauge is highly accurate. The tapered latch centers the relatednotch where engaged therewith. In alike manner, the gauge may be rapidly and accurately .reset Without fear of error.

Whiletwo forms or embodiments of the inventionhave been shown and described herein for illustrative .purposes, and the construction and arrangement incidental to two specific applications there-of have been disclosed and discussed in detail, it is tobe understood that the invention is limited neither to-the mere details or relativearrangement of parts, nor to its specific embodiments shownherein, but that extensive deviations from the illustrated forms or embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the principles thereof.

What. I claim is:

'A combined presser foot and gauge for sewing machines comprising a foot member having a shank and provided with a lower, forwardly extending foot portion, three spaced walls ex tending upwardly from the rear section of said foot-member and defining two vertical recesses,

a pivot pin passing through the forward section of said walls, the shank of said foot member being attached to the sewing machine and being mounted on said pivot pin in one of said recesses, a gauge member comprising a generally flat plate provided at its outer end with a downwardly extending, vertical guide wall and mounted for lateral sliding movement on the upper surface of said foot portion and provided on its forward edge with a downwardly and'forwardly inclined surface,-said gauge member having spaced transverse notches on its upper surface and having a longitudinal opening extending over the major portion of its length through which a sewing machine needle may pass, a complemental upward- .ly and rearwardly inclined surface at the forward edge of said foot portion which engages the forward edge of the gauge member forming a trackway for the latter, a latch member pivotally mounted in the second-recess en said pivot pin, which engages the notches, springs positionedin the first and second recesses to the rear of the pivot pin which urge the'forward end of the foot portion upwardlyand the forward end of the latch downwardly into engagement with one of the notches in the gauge member to retain the gauge member inan adjusted fixed position.

MATTEEWI MURINO.

2,411,102 Morabito Nov; 12, 1946 

